Fresno County, California Biographies
Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of
the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with
its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919)
History By Paul E. Vandor
Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919
Notes: Missing+page1185-1186
Transcribed by Peggy Hooper
This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm
ALBERT JENSEN. � An enterprising and progressive man, is Albert
Jensen, who owns a well improved stock ranch of seventy acres on the south
side of the Elkhorn grade road, one and a half miles east of Burrel � a piece
of exceptionally valuable property which he has possessed since he was
eighteen years old, and only recently leased to others. His father was the
late Henry Jensen, who died at Fresno in 1915 at the age of sixty-seven, and
was a native of Copenhagen, Denmark. He had married Melinda Paul, an
American and a native of Washington Territory, and in that section of the
Northwest they were married. In his early life he had been a sailor, but as
he grew to manhood he desired a home free from the dangers of the sea.
Consequently, he settled in Washington Territory, and the so-called Palouse
country, and became the father of six children.
In 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Jensen moved south to California and the Burrel
district, where the father bought two quarter sections of land, upon which
he built his home. However, no sooner had he established himself and his
family in comfort than an accident, as sad as tragic, occurred to mar the
happiness of his life. Mrs. Jensen's clothes caught fire while she was working
around a sheet-iron stove, and so severely was she burned that she died
soon after. Thereupon the bereaved father moved to Los Angeles with his
six children, but fate continued to cast a shadow over his path and the
youngest two of the family died with diphtheria. There were then left the
sons, George, Harvey, Albert, and Charles. Returning to the Burrel district,
the father continued to farm, assisted by his boys, then growing to young
manhood. He was a man of more than ordinary attainment, and was a
profound Bible student. He had an inquiring and acquiring mind, and never
rested until he had found, if possible, a solution for every problem. He was
not only scholarly, but he wrote poetry as well as prose.
Born on September 29, 1885, Albert's earliest recollections are of Fresno
County. He attended school in the Elkhorn district, and was brought up to
farming. When eighteen years of age he bought the land already referred
to in partnership with his older brother Harvey, and together they pur-
chased 142 � acres one and a half miles east of Burrel. Upon dividing the
property Albert took the seventy acres fronting on the Elkhorn grade road
and Harvey took the seventy-two and a half acres immediately south of it.
Inasmuch as he came in on the draft calling for men from eighteen to forty-
five, in the fall of 1918, he leased his land for a term of five years, and he has
since rented an eighty-acre vineyard at Bowles. On March 11, 1918, Mr.
Jensen was married to Miss Gladys Hopkins of Fresno. Fraternally, he is
a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.